No new meningitis cases reported in Mendocino County

February 13, 2012, 4:25PM

02/13/2012

Mendocino County public health officials said Monday there have been no additional reports of bacterial meningitis since a Ukiah toddler was diagnosed last week with the potentially deadly disease.

The three-year-old boy was flown to Oakland Children's Hospital late last week in critical condition.

Erika Nosera, Mendocino County public health nurse, said she did not know the status of the boy's condition. His name has not been released and his condition wasn't available from hospital officials Monday morning.

Nosera and other public health officials Friday and Saturday contacted everyone they could find who had been in contact with the child in the past few weeks.

She estimated he'd come into close contact with 40-60 people, including a group at a Super Bowl party. The toddler also attended a Ukiah day care facility.

"We managed to get everybody who was a contact," she said.

The disease can incubate for about 10 days. That period has passed for some people he'd been in contact with but not for others.

The child was diagnosed with meningococcemia, an infection of the bloodstream that can spread to spinal fluid. It starts like a flu and quickly escalates to a variety of serious symptoms including fever, headache, sensitivity to light and lethargy.

The disease is rare and local cases are infrequent. In 2008, a 23-year-old Sonoma County man and a two-year-old Mendocino County child died from the infection.